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  • When ‘Civilization’ Became a Bad Word

    When ‘Civilization’ Became a Bad Word0

    Kenneth Clark’s “Civilisation” mini-series, produced by the BBC and aired on American public television in 1969, celebrated the Western art and culture it depicted and explained. The show was one of the most widely watched and re-aired shows of its kind at the time, and is still discussed today, almost fifty years after its television debut.

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  • Whatever Happened to the Boy Scouts?

    Whatever Happened to the Boy Scouts?2

    It was once an honor to earn a merit badge in the Boy Scouts. Becoming a Star Scout was a privilege, a Life Scout was something fantastic, and an Eagle Scout was the very tip of the apex. Few achieved that pinnacle, and those who did treasured it for their entire lives. But even those

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  • Whatever Happened to the American Way?

    Whatever Happened to the American Way?1

    Superman’s mantra goes, “Truth, justice, and …” what? The phrase that fills this blank used to be universally agreed upon. It was, after all, introduced in the classic Superman radio serial only two years after the character’s 1938 debut. The 1940s mantra certainly fit its time: With America in the thick of World War II

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  • Whatever Happened to Saint Nicholas?

    Whatever Happened to Saint Nicholas?3

    How did a fourth-century, heretic-slapping bishop from Southern Turkey wind up being a fat, Coca-Cola-swigging American elf? Saint Nicholas was born into a wealthy Christian family in the third century. His parents died in a plague, and having inherited the family fortune, he decided to obey the radical call of Christ and give it to

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  • Whatever Happened to Noblesse Oblige?

    Whatever Happened to Noblesse Oblige?0

    In the 1980s I served as the vicar of country parish of Brading on the Isle of Wight in England. One of my predecessors was The Rev’d Christian William Hampton Weekes—known affectionately as Hampy. Born in 1880 and educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was the Vicar of Brading from 1935 to his

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  • Whatever Happened to Coffee Shop Courtesy?

    Whatever Happened to Coffee Shop Courtesy?1

    “I’ve become that guy who sits in the corner and keeps his opinions to himself.” I am working away on my laptop in a coffee shop that serves as my second home when the man at the nearby table speaks those words. Here’s a sixty-something guy, a little worse for the wear, who for the

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